The New Season
by Jedi-Knight4
Summary: Its a new season with a guest star from season 1 becoming a team member. Episode 6 is finished. Please R & R.
1. The Mutant Killer

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**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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_Episode 1:__The Mutant Killer_ Valentines' Residence 

The Phone rang. "Hello," said Corbin Valentine.

"Hello Corbin, this is Pat Roberts."

"Colonel Roberts!" Corbin said sounding surprised.

Colonel Patrick Roberts was a former colleague of Corbin Valentine's. Corbin used to be an astronaut, until a year back, when his family was almost torn apart when he took his ten year old son Josh, a new mutant, to Genomex to make him 'normal'. His wife Lisa, also a new mutant, had Josh kidnapped to keep him away from his father. In the end it was Mutant X who had saved the day and had given Corbin another chance to keep his family together. For the last one year the Valentines' had been keeping a low profile.

"It's been a long time Corbin," said Roberts. 

"It sure has," said Corbin, suspicion creeping into his voice. "And how've you been?"

"Oh, I have been absolutely perfect," Roberts said. 

"But, I didn't call to exchange pleasantries. I found out about Genomex, their experiments and their freaks. These new mutants, as they call themselves, don't belong with us humans. They will be a menace to society. I've still got a few connections in the Government. I've used them to assemble myself a little team, and I plan to start wiping out these freaks one by one, starting with your son and wife."

"WHAT!" Corbin Valentine yelled.

"That's right. I know your son and wife are new mutants," Roberts replied. Corbin started getting a sick feeling at the bottom of his stomach.

"If you lay so much as a finger on them Roberts."

"There's nothing you can do Valentine," Roberts cut him off snickering.

Corbin slammed the receiver down. "Lisa! Josh!" he yelled, "Get in here quick."

Sanctuary 

****

Shalimar and Brennan were training in the dojo, while Jesse and Emma were watching, amused at Brennan getting his ass kicked. Just as they finished, Adam came in with a grim expression on his face.

"What's wrong Adam?" Jesse asked.

"I just got a call from Lisa Valentine. Apparently some old **_friend_** of Corbin's has taken it upon himself to rid the world of new mutants. He's after Lisa and Josh."

"Oh my God!" Emma exclaimed.

"Shalimar, Brennan, I need you two to take the Helix and bring the Valentines here," Adam continued. "Jesse, see what you can dig up on a 'Colonel Patrick Roberts'.

An Abandoned Warehouse 

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The Valentines were waiting for Mutant X, hoping that Colonel Roberts' team hadn't tracked them down. 

"Where are they? They should have been here by now!" said a frustrated Corbin.

Just then they heard footsteps approaching and turned around to see a bunch of men in black suits, looking a lot like G S Agents. Corbin grabbed a lead pipe from the ground and started running towards them.

"Get out of here," he yelled to his wife and son, "I'll hold them back."

Lisa and Josh started to run as Corbin smashed the pipe into one of the agents' skull. But he was soon overpowered. Lisa turned around and saw a couple of agents coming after them. She pushed Josh ahead.

"Go. I'll be right behind you."

"I'm not leaving you, Mom!"

"I said go!"

Lisa turned around to use her telempathic powers. BANG! One of the agents fired a shot. Josh instinctively dived to the ground, but it was Lisa who was shot. At that moment, Shalimar and Brennan appeared around the corner. Brennan sent a huge arc of electricity at the agents, knocking them down. Shalimar picked up Josh and started running back towards the Helix. The agents got back up, surprisingly unaffected by the jolt of electricity, and started firing. Shalimar and Brennan managed to get Josh back in the Helix unscathed and took off as the agents continued firing.

Sanctuary 

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"We have to save my Mom and Dad," said Josh, nearly in tears.

"Don't worry, Josh. We'll get them back," said Emma trying to comfort the boy. "Come on, let's get you something to eat."

As they left the room, Adam turned to Jesse.

"Did you get anything on Roberts?" Adam asked.

"Yup. Colonel Patrick Roberts, ex-military man, a war hero no less and take a look at this."

"What?"

"He must've pulled a lot of strings in the Government, because he's taken over Genomex."

"Well, that explains the black suits trying to capture the Valentines," said Brennan. "Speaking of which, I zapped a couple of them today, but it barely seemed to affect them. What's up with that?"

"He's got the Genomex labs. They must have developed some protection against your electrical charges," said Adam.

"So what are we waiting for? We've got to get into Genomex and get Corbin and Lisa out of there," said Shalimar.

"We have to be careful," said Adam. "He's got access to the new mutant database, so I'm sure he knows about us. It won't be easy getting in. Here's what we have to do.

As the team prepared to leave Adam said,

"I want you to go in and get Lisa and Corbin out of there as quickly as you can. This guy doesn't seem to be stasis pod, subdermal governor type. He's probably ordered his men to shoot on sight.

"Don't worry Adam, we'll be careful," said Brennan.

"Where's Josh?" asked Shalimar as they headed towards the helix.

"I think he's asleep," replied Emma. "He was pretty upset."

They took off in the helix and headed towards Genomex. Then Shalimar sensed something moving in the back. She got up and walked over to some containers, reached behind them and pulled up a very sheepish looking Josh.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I want to help save my mom and dad!"

"Its too dangerous. You should have stayed back at sanctuary," said Emma.

"But I…" Josh began to protest and then suddenly collapsed to the floor holding his head and shouted, "No!"

"What happened? What's wrong?" Jesse picked him up of the floor.

"My mom! Something happened."

Josh had a telempathic link with his mother. Emma tried to get a reading of him and got a brief glimpse of a middle-aged man, laughing, with a gun in his hand. 

"We're here," said Brennan, who was flying the helix. "Let's get them out of there."

"Are you okay?" Shalimar asked Josh who nodded, his eyes glistening with tears. "I want you to stay in the helix, okay?"

"Okay," came a sober reply.

Genomex 

The team managed to sneak past the guards thanks to a psionic blast from Emma. Jesse then phased a wall and got them in. They then split up into two pairs, Brennan and Shalimar headed for the detention cells and Jesse and Emma headed towards the laboratories. 

Brennan and Shalimar had managed to sneak into the detention center quietly, when suddenly a couple of guards jumped them from behind. Shalimar took out one pretty easily. As Brennan knocked down the other, he got up to find himself facing G S agents with guns. He started to generate a tesla coil, when,

"I'd turn that of if I were you Mulwray." 

Brennan looked up to see a man in his fifties, dressed in a military uniform.

"You're Robertson, I presume," he said.

Jesse phased Emma and himself into one of the labs. They saw two bodies lying on the autopsy tables. Jesse walked over to one and lifted the cover and was shocked! It was Corbin Valentine! He uncovered the other one and saw Lisa's body. He looked back at Emma. She was in shock too. Both bodies had gunshot wounds.

The door burst open and three G S agents with guns walked in. Jesse ran in front of Emma and massed. But, then he reverted back to normal when he saw Shalimar and Brennan being brought in at gunpoint.

Shalimar gasped when she saw the two bodies.

"What the hell did you do to them!" yelled Brennan.

"The same thing I'm going to do to you," Robertson replied. "After you give me the location of your headquarters.

"Your crazy if you think we're gonna tell you that."

"You will see just how crazy I can be. Take them down and torture them till someone cracks."

Five G S agents escorted the team down into the empty basement parking lot followed by Robertson.  

"The first one to use their freakish powers gets a bullet to the brain," said Robertson. "Now," he said turning to Brennan, "tell me the location of Sanctuary."

"Kiss my ass," Brennan replied defiantly and got whacked in head from behind.

"Tsk, Tsk," Robertson shook his head. "You might have made a good soldier…if you were normal."

He bent down putting his face close to Emma's and held her cheeks in his hand.

"And you, Miss DeLauro. I don't suppose you have something to add to that?"

"You're never going to get the location of Sanctuary from us, Robertson," Emma replied.

"Maybe you'll change your tune when one of you is dead…kill him," he said pointing to Brennan.

 "No!" Shalimar and Emma shouted in unison as one of the agents pointed his gun at Brennan's head.

Suddenly there was smoke coming from the gun. The agent yelped and dropped it. Robertson turned around in time to see a young boy making some motion with his hands and throwing what looked like a ball of heat. Another agent dropped to the floor holding his face and screaming. 

Shalimar leaped to her feet and knocked another agent down with a spinning kick. 

Jesse massed as one of the agents opened fire on him. He then walked over and punched the guy sending him flying to the other end of the lot.

Robertson pulled out a .35 magnum and started firing at Josh who ducked behind a pillar. Brennan kicked the Colonel's legs out from under him and then kicked his gun away. 

Emma blasted the remaining agent and went to check on Josh. 

Brennan charged up a tesla coil and was about to hit Robertson with it, when his attention was diverted to another group of G S agents who just entered the parking lot. Brennan released the tesla coil on them, knocking them down. Just like before, they started to get up seemingly unharmed. This time however, Shalimar and Jesse finished the job. 

Brennan turned back to find Robertson slipping out the door. "Damn," he said to himself and walked towards the others.

"You know, you could have been killed," Emma was saying to Josh. "But that was really brave," she added. 

"Nice job kiddo," Shalimar said tussling his hair. Josh blushed. "Aw, it was nothing," he said.

"Are you kidding!" said Jesse. "You were great! You took out two G S agents all on your own."

"I hate to interrupt the celebrations," Brennan interjected. "But we better get outta here.

"Wait! What about my parents?" Josh asked. The four Mutant X members looked at each other uncomfortably. How were they going to tell him?

"Josh, there's something you should know," Brennan said finally.

Sanctuary 

Jesse and Brennan had managed to get Lisa and Corbin's bodies out of Genomex. The team had just returned after burying the bodies. Josh hadn't said a word throughout.

"Poor kid," said Jesse. "I don't know how he's handling this."

"I'm gonna go check on him," said Shalimar.

Josh was sitting on the steps of the dojo with his head down.

She walked over and sat down next to him.

"You okay?" she asked, a concerned look on her face.

Josh silently nodded his head. Shalimar put her finger under his chin and lifted it up. His eyes were red.

"You don't look okay to me."

"I don't have family anymore," he sniffed.

"Yes you do," she replied. "Come here."

She put her arms around him, enveloping him in a hug.

** END OF EPISODE 1**

I've reposted this story coz I've combined part 1 and 2 into one part.

I'll come out with episode 2 in about a week. I hope you like this one.


	2. Vision Of Fear

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**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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_Episode 2:__Vision Of Fear___

"Go. I'll be right behind you," said Lisa Valentine.

"I'm not leaving you, Mom!" Josh said.

Then there was a loud BANG! A gunshot. Lisa Valentine fell to the ground right in front of Josh.

"No!" Josh shouted.

Everything around him started moving in circles. His vision blurred and he could barely see anything. The world seemed to be going round and round.

And then, just as abruptly as it began, it stopped. Everything came to a stand still. Josh looked around and found himself in some kind of laboratory. There were two autopsy tables in the centre of the room with a body lying on each one. The faces on the bodies looked all blurred. As he moved closer, he realized that the bodies lying on the autopsy tables were his parent's. He was grief stricken. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Suddenly he heard a gravely sounding laugh behind him. He turned around to see Colonel Patrick Roberts standing there, pointing a gun at him.

"Time to die," said Roberts and pulled the trigger.

The bullet seemed to be moving in slow motion. Josh tried to run, but he couldn't move. It was like he was paralysed. He couldn't move any part of his body. As the bullet came closer, he was filled with terror. It was inches away from his face and then it came rushing in.

"Nooo!" Josh sat up in his bed with a jerk. He was sweating. Shalimar and Emma were sitting right next to him on the side of the bed. They had sensed trouble and come to check on him.

"Sshh, it's okay," She said putting her arm around him and pulling him close. "You just had a bad dream. It's okay now."

"I...I saw m-my m-mom and dad," he said, his voice trembling. 

He started sobbing. Shalimar pulled him close and kissed him lightly on the head. Emma began directing feelings of comfort towards the boy. The sobbing gradually stopped and he drifted back to sleep.

It had been four days since Josh had lost his parents. He had been having nightmares just like this every night.

"He'll be okay for tonight," said Emma as they left the room.

"He's been having these nightmares every night," said Shalimar. "I'm worried about him."

Emma nodded in agreement.

The next morning, Adam was working in the lab when Shalimar walked in.

"How's he doing?" asked Adam.

"Not too good," Shalimar replied. "He had another nightmare last night. Isn't there something you can do?"

"I wish there was. But, this isn't one of those things where I give him an antidote and he gets better. This is something he has to deal with on his own.

"Hi Josh!" said Emma.

"Hi Emma," Josh said in a sober tone.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not much. I...I don't know what to do. I can't stop these nightmares. It's..." He looked away.

"You wanna talk about it?" Emma asked.

He looked at her and started to shake his head, but she cut him off.

"You'll feel much better if you talk about it."

"Okay," Josh said.

They sat down on a couch.

"I see my parents, and they're dead," he said.

"And then I see him."

"Who?" Emma asked.

"Roberts," Josh said with a shudder.

"Are you afraid of him?"

Josh nodded his head. 

"It's okay to be afraid," she said. "But you need to face your fears and beat them. That's the only way you can get over them."

 "I can't," Josh said. "It's...It's too hard."

"You have to try," Emma said.

"Emma," Adam's voice came over the com. "I need you in the lab."

"I'll be right there," Emma replied. "You think about what I said, okay?" she told Josh.

The kid nodded his head.

"Hey kid!" Brennan said as he came up to them with Jesse behind him. "Come on, we're going to your house to pick up all your stuff."

"Okay," said Josh perking up.

Valentines' Residence 

"All right, go get your stuff," Brennan told Josh as they entered the house.

"Brennan," Jesse called in an apprehensive tone of voice.

"What?"

"We've got a slight problem. Come look at this.

Brennan walked over to the fireplace where Jesse was standing and looking intently at something.

"What is it?"

"A bug," said Jesse grimly. "No prizes for guessing who put it there."

"Robertson," Brennan said.

"That's right."

"Man! We should've known they'd have bugged the place," Brennan was livid.

"Josh, you'd better hurry it up. We're gonna have company," Jesse called out.

Josh had just finished packing his things. He looked at a picture on his desk and picked it up. It was a picture of him and his parents. A feeling of sadness washed over him.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Jesse shouted out that they were going to have company. Josh put the picture in his bag and started to leave the room.

Suddenly, something crashed through the window. It was a small canister and there was smoke coming out of it.

As he hurried outside into the living room another couple of smoke grenades crashed through the windows. 

"We'd better get outta here," said Brennan.

The room started to fill with smoke and it was getting thicker by the second.

"Get down on the floor," Brennan said.

As they did, the front door burst open and some men dressed in commando gear and wearing gas masks rushed in.

Jesse crawled towards the wall in front of him and phased it.

"Come on," he said.

They made it out just as the commandos started firing.

"They are outside. Move in to intercept," said one of them into a com-link.

As the three of them headed for the helix, a couple of commandos came around the corner and started firing. 

Jesse massed, pulling Josh behind him. Brennan charged up a tesla coil and hurled it at the two men knocking them down.

They reached the Helix just in time as about seven-eight commandos started shooting at them. Robertson was standing behind them, a disgusted look on his face as the Helix took off.

Sanctuary 

Josh was in his room, sitting on his bed. He was looking at a picture of his parents. A single tear rolled down his cheek. He placed the picture face down on a table next to his bed and then went to sleep.

"Go. I'll be right behind you," said Lisa Valentine.

"I'm not leaving you, Mom!" Josh said.

Then there was a loud BANG! A gunshot. Lisa Valentine fell to the ground right in front of Josh.

"No!" Josh shouted.

 Just like before everything around him started moving in circles and his vision started to blur.

As everything stopped spinning, he looked around and found himself in the same laboratory. The two autopsy tables were there in the centre of the room with a body lying on each one. And like before the faces on the bodies were blurred. He moved closer and saw his parents' bodies and felt that same sickening feeling at the bottom of his stomach. He felt the grief all over again.

Suddenly he heard a familiar gravely sounding laugh behind him. He turned around to see Colonel Patrick Roberts standing there, pointing a gun at him.

"Time to die," said Roberts and pulled the trigger.

The bullet seemed to be moving in slow motion. Josh tried to run, but he couldn't move. It was like he was paralysed. He couldn't move any part of his body. The bullet came closer and closer until it was barely a couple of inches away from his face and then it stopped. Everything went black.

And suddenly he found himself at sanctuary.

"Josh!"

He turned around. It was Emma.

"You have to fight it," she said. "I know you can do it."

"I don't think I can," said Josh.

"You can do it," Emma said firmly.

Everything went black again and Josh then found himself standing in the laboratory again.

Again he heard that laugh and he turned around to see Colonel Patrick Roberts standing there, pointing a gun at him.

"I'm not afraid of you," said Josh, his eyes narrowing.

"Time to die," said Roberts.

But this time before he could pull the trigger, Josh swirled his hands around released a thermal charge. 

The charge hit Robertson and he burst into flames, screaming.

Josh gave a huge sigh of relief as he watched Robertson burn to the ground.

And then...he woke up.

He sat up in bed and then looked at the clock. It was morning.

There was a knock at the door and Emma poked her head in.

"You awake?" she asked.

"Yeah," Josh replied. Then he smiled. "I did it!" he told her.

"I know," she said smiling. "Come on. We've got a surprise for you."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Come on," she said putting her arm on his shoulder as they left the room.

The rest of the team were standing by the Dojo. As they walked towards them, Adam pulled out a small box.

"This is for you," he said.

Josh opened the box. Inside it was a ring.

"Isn't this a com-ring?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's right," said Adam.

Josh's eyes widened. "That means..."

"That you're now part of the team," Jesse finished for him.

"All Right!" Josh said with glee as Shalimar and Emma kissed him on the cheek.

"And here's your first assignment," said Brennan, handing him a broom. "Housekeeping." 

He laughed and started running as josh ran after him, trying to whack him with the broom.

**END OF EPISODE 2**

I just thought up this episode and added it in between because it takes place between 'The Mutant Killer and ' Danger On Campus'


	3. Danger On Campus

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**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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_Episode 3:__Danger On Campus___ Sanctuary

"Come on, you can punch harder than that." 

Shalimar was giving Josh a few lessons in self-defence. She was holding out her palms while josh was punching them with all his might.

'That's it. That's the way…Now kick." 

Josh delivered a kick to her side with his right leg and then with his left, which she blocked. Then he spun around and lashed out with his right leg. She caught hold of it and tripped him up. He fell flat on his back. She bent down and tapped him on the nose.

"You've gotta be quicker than that kid," she said.

She pulled him to his feet.

"But, that's okay. You did good. Go ahead and take a shower." She patted his bum as he ran past. 

"So, what are we gonna do about him?" Jesse asked Shalimar as she walked down the steps of the dojo. He had been watching them train.

"What do you mean?" Shalimar asked.

"Well, he's a kid," Jesse replied. "He's got to go to school and all.

"You're right," said Adam walking up to them. "He does have to go to school, but his powers are very well developed for his age and he cannot control them without proper training, which is why he can't go to a public school and especially not to one in town. One of my contacts introduced me to a man named Richard Spencer, who runs a private school. It's on the outskirts of the city, so it's a pretty safe place and Richard has promised to keep an eye on him."

Josh was looking down at the com-ring on his finger as Adam was driving him to school.

"That ring is keyed into your DNA," Adam said. "Keep it on at all times and use it if you're in any trouble."

Josh nodded.

Adam pulled into the driveway of a very modern looking building with an enormous lawn and a playground out front. There were some kids playing on a basketball court on one side.

"We're here," Adam said.

He turned to Josh. "Mr. Spencer knows that you are a new mutant, but no one else does. So, don't play around with your powers.

"Okay." 

"And that's why the ozone layer..."

Josh wasn't really listening to what the teacher was saying. His mind was on Colonel Roberts. He wanted to make him pay for killing his parents.

"Mr. Anderson!" 

 It took a minute for Josh to realize that the teacher was talking to him. For safety reasons, Adam had put his name down as Joshua Anderson instead of Valentine. 

"Could you please explain to me what CFC is?" asked the teacher, a stern looking bald man in his forties with rimmed glasses.

"Uh...I..."

"That's what I thought. You don't come to school to daydream Mr. Anderson. Since you are new here, I am letting you of the hook, but henceforth..." he was cut off by a booming voice over the PA system.

"All faculty members report to the faculty lounge and all students are to assemble in the cafeteria immediately."

Josh looked around as the students gathered in the cafeteria. The school must have been a new one as there were not many students there. Two men in black suits entered the cafeteria. Josh's heart leaped up into his mouth. There was a hush among the students.

"Everybody please form three lines," one of the men said.

When no one moved, he pulled out a gun. "Now!" he demanded.

There was a panic among the students and the two men frantically tried to keep them in one place. In the midst of all the confusion, Josh dropped down out of sight and crawled into the kitchen.

"Adam," he whispered into his com-ring. 

"Yes Josh. What is it?" Adam replied. 

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Emma asked. She was helping Adam in the lab.

"There are GS agents here," Josh said. He sounded panicky. Suddenly, there was a gunshot as one of the GS agents fired in the air.

"What happened?" Emma exclaimed.

"They've rounded up the students in the cafeteria, but I'm hiding in the kitchen."

"Josh, I want you to stay out of sight.'' Adam said. "We're on our way."

"Shalimar! Jesse! Brennan! We've got an emergency!" he yelled running out of the lab with Emma on his heels. 

'I hope they get here quick,' Josh thought to himself. The school was in a remote area, on the outskirts of the city, so there was no chance of the police getting any wind of this. 

"We'll lookey what we have here," came a gravely voice from behind him. He felt a hand grab him by his collar and lift him up. He turned around to see a bearded man in a military uniform sneering at him. He was holding a gun in his hand with the barrel pointing right between Josh's eyes. 

"I found him sir," he said into a comm. device attached to his ear.

"Bring him to me," came a voice over the comm.

The man grabbed Josh by the collar and hauled him out into the cafeteria, the gun pointed at his head. The students were all on the floor, the two GS agents hovering above, them, gun in hand.

"Where are you taking me?" Josh asked, as they went out into the hallway.

"Shut up kid!" the man snapped grabbing Josh's neck and pushing him forward.

Josh grabbed the man's hand and released a thermal charge. The man dropped the gun screaming and Josh made a run for it. He sprinted down the hallway and rounded the corner to see another couple of men in military outfits. He turned on his heel and ran back, running straight into the bearded guy who looked really steamed. He threw a punch at Josh's face. Josh ducked and kicked the man's shins. He then ran past him, but the man grabbed his shirt and threw him down. The man then sent his fist straight into Josh's face, but the kid managed to roll away in time and the guy's already burnt hand smashed into the hard floor. He held his hand, howling in pain as Josh jumped to his feet and ran towards Richard Spencer's office. 

The Double Helix, in stealth mode landed on the roof of the school. 

"I need you two to find Josh," Adam said to Jesse and Shalimar. "Brennan, Emma, you two sneak around and see if you can find out what's happening." 

Meanwhile, Josh burst into Richard Spencer's office yelling, 

"Mr. Spencer, some guys have tak..." Josh stopped mid-sentence because standing in the office along with Richard Spencer was Colonel Robertson.

"Nice of you to drop by, Mr. Valentine," said Robertson.

"How did you...?"

"How did I find you? I have Mr. Spencer here to thank for that," Robertson said patting Spencer on the back. "I admire the resistance you put up. You're parents went down without a fight."

Josh's face was red with anger. He wanted to just rip off Robertson's head.

"And now," Robertson said pulling out a gun and levelling it at Josh. "Your resistance comes to an end."

As Robertson walked up to Josh, ready to pull the trigger, the kid flinched and instinctively brought his hands up, sending a thermal charge straight at Robertson's face, burning his cheek. Robertson dropped his gun and yelled, clawing at his face. 

At that moment, one of Robertson's men came crashing through the door. Behind him came Shalimar, eyes blazing. Robertson, still clutching his cheek, went for his gun, but was met by a vicious kick from Shalimar. She then grabbed the boy's hand and ran out the door. 

Outside, Jesse had already laid out two men. He held two guys by their heads and banged them together.

"Nice school you got here," he said grinning at Josh. "The security's really friendly.

"Let's get back to the Helix," said Shalimar.

Brennan and Emma, after taking care of the GS Agents holding up the staff members, made their way to the cafeteria.

Brennan kicked the door down and sent a tesla coil knocking out one GS Agent. Emma sent a mind blast and knocked down the other. 

"Cool!" one kid got up said. "Are you guys superheroes or something?

"Yeah," Brennan replied with a straight face. "I'm 'Captain Lightning' and this is the 'Mind Girl'."

"Our job here is done," he continued dramatically, turning to Emma. The two of them rushed out and made their way back to the Helix.

"Mind Girl?" Emma asked giving Brennan an incredulous look. "You couldn't come up with something better than."

"Stop complaining," Brennan snickered. "I made you a superhero didn't I?"

As they reached the Helix, they heard police sirens and saw what looked like the entire police department pull into the driveway.

"I left an anonymous tip on the police band," said Adam as the entered the Helix.

The Helix, still in stealth mode, took off, as the police below rounded up all of Robertson's military men. However, Robertson and the GS Agents seemed to have slipped away.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked Josh.

"I'm fine," He replied. "But Robertson isn't. I left a big burn on his face."

Brennan laughed. "I'd liked to have seen the look on his face," he said.

"How did he find you?" Shalimar asked.

"Mr. Spencer sold us out," Josh said.

Adam shook his head in disappointment. "I'm sorry," he said to Josh. "I trusted him. I don't know why he would turn on us."

"Well, Josh definitely can't go there anymore," said Jesse.

"Ah, I didn't like the place anyway," Josh said.

"I guess your gonna have to settle for home schooling," Adam said.

"I can live with that," replied Josh, grinning.

**END OF EPISODE 3**

Thanks for the reviews. Sorry for the delay, I kinda got writers block. I also got my exams coming up so episode 3 will take a little more time. Please keep reviewing.

I know Emma's not there anymore and Adam might not be there too, but I want to see how they get rid of them on the show. And I don't know much about this Lexa character. I'm gonna wait till season 3 starts before I make those changes in my season.


	4. Cruise Control

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**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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_Episode 4:__Cruise Control___ Sanctuary

"Emma," Adam said into his com-link as he walked out of the lab. "Have Jesse and Shalimar come in yet?

"No, but they're on their way," came the reply.

"When they get in, have everyone meet me at the dojo."

The team had gathered at the dojo. Adam walked up to them. 

"The last few weeks have been pretty hard. I think you all deserve a little vacation."

He smiled as he saw the five faces in front of him light up with joy.

"What'd you have in mind?" asked Brennan.

"Take a look at this," said Adam pointing to the screen behind him.

On the screen was a huge ship with the words S.S Elizabeth on it.

"The S.S Elizabeth, a five star luxury liner, all expenses paid. And you're leaving tomorrow" 

"Adam, you're the man!" said Jesse, giving him a high five.

"I'm gonna go and pack!" shouted an elated Josh running to his room.

"This is great," said Shalimar.

"Well, you've earned it," Adam said.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Emma asked him.

"No, I can't. I have a lot of work to do, and besides, somebody has to stay back at sanctuary in case any trouble crops up."

At The Docks

There was a huge crowd at the docks. Porters bustling about with peoples' luggage and people shouting at them if they dropped something.

"This ship is HUGE!" said Emma, shouting over all the noise. 

They were heading for the boarding ramp. Josh stopped, looking up in awe at the ship.

"Wow!"

"Hey don't wander off, you'll get lost out here," Jesse told him, pulling him along.

Just as they were boarding the ship Emma turned to see three men and another person in a cloak walking towards the ramp. The fourth person's head was covered with a hood and she couldn't make out whether it was a man or a woman. She was getting a very suspicious reading of them. As they boarded the ship, the Purser, a tall, handsome man in his mid thirties greeted them. 

"Who're they?" Emma asked him indicating the mysterious group.

"That's Sharona the Magnificent and her troupe. They are a magic act we've hired.

"What's wrong Emma?" asked Brennan.

"I'm not sure, but I got a really weird reading of them. 

"Relax. We're on vacation, remember."

"Oohh, this is the life," said Jesse as an attractive brunette woman in a skimpy bikini massaged his back. Brennan was right next to him getting a massage from an equally attractive blonde.

"You can say that again." 

Shalimar and Emma were laid out on deck chairs next to the pool, sunbathing in bikinis. Josh plopped himself down in a chair next to Shalimar. 

"This ship is huge," he said excitedly. "They've got video games and bowling and an ice skating rink and even a movie theatre."

Both women smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"I'm gonna go and do some exploring," said Josh.

"Just make sure you don't get lost," Emma called after him as he ran off.

Josh climbed down the stairs onto one of the lower decks of the ship. This deck was dimly lit as compared to the others. The ceiling was lower and the wallpapers were faded. There appeared to be nobody else but himself down there.

'Looks like no one comes down here much,' he thought to himself.

He suddenly heard some voices. They were very faint. He started walking in their direction. As the voices got louder, he came to the end of the corridor and stopped at the bend. It was a woman talking in a very commanding voice. It appeared that she was in charge of whatever was going on.  

"Do you have a copy of the safe key?" she asked.

"Yes. And everything is in place," a man spoke up.

Josh peeked around the corner to get a glimpse. He saw a tall woman with bright red hair, surrounded by three large men, one of them holding a bag of some sort.

"Good. Make sure everything goes according to plan. I don't want any mistakes. And stay out of sight. We can't afford to be seen."

"We got it covered boss," said one of the men.

Josh was watching all of this intently, when suddenly a rat ran across the corridor startling Josh. He yelped and then covered his mouth.

"Who's there?" One of the men shouted.

Josh turned on his heel and made a run for it. The men rounded the corner just as he scrambled up the stairs. He ran up a few decks and then into one of the corridors almost knocking over a few people in his path. Thinking he had lost them, he stopped to catch his breath. 

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm from behind. Josh nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around, fists up, ready to fight.

"Brennan," he said sighing with relief.

"Where have you been? And why were you running?" Brennan asked.

"Long story," said Josh, shaking his head.

"I assure you Dr. Petrov, it will be perfectly safe in there. Our security system is of the highest order," the ship's captain said as he walked out of the ship's vault with another man. Dr. Nikolai Petrov, a stout, bearded, bespectacled man in his late fifties, stopped and turned to face the captain.

"I hope you are right Captain Jones," he said rubbing his semi-bald scalp. "I am trusting you with my prized possession." 

"Don't worry Doctor. There's no one who can break into that vault without us knowing about it. Come, let me buy you a drink."

Brennan and Josh met up with the others and Josh told them about everything he saw.

"It's got to be Sharona and her group. I knew there was something suspicious about them," said Emma. 

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," said Brennan. "Did you see any of their faces?" he asked Josh.

"I saw the woman's face.  She had red hair and green eyes.

They contacted Adam over a cell phone and told him what was going on. They asked him to check out the woman. Josh gave him a description of her. About half an hour later he called back.

"Well, I got a profile on this woman," he said. "Her real name is Robin Berkley. She's a new mutant, a Psionic Telempath, just like Emma."

"Okay, thanks Adam," said Jesse.

"Be careful out there and keep me posted," Adam said and hung up.

"They're gonna perform in the dining hall tonight," Jesse spoke up. "Let's check them out. We'll see if they try something."

"Nice," said Brennan as the team walked into the dining hall. The place had a splendid decor, a buffet table on one side, a stage on the other and chandeliers everywhere.

"Hello Emma," said Carl Baldwin, the purser. He and Emma seemed to have taken a liking for each other ever since they met.

"Hi Carl," Emma replied back cheerfully.

Just then, the lights dimmed.

"I believe the show's about to start," said Carl. "Why don't you guys find a table." 

They sat down at a table close to the stage, Jesse with a plate full of food, just as the captain was announcing 

"Please welcome The Magnificent Sharrona!"

Onto the stage came a figure clad in a dark cloak, head covered by a hood, followed by two men who looked like they were dressed like Aladdin. The cloaked figure, removed her hood revealing herself as a red haired woman.

Josh jumped up, recognizing her as the woman he had seen earlier. Shalimar pulled him back down.

"Sit down," she hissed.

"That's her," Josh whispered back.

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.

"I'm telling you that's her."

The woman started performing on stage.

Sharrona performed some basic magic tricks for a few minutes and then looked up at the audience.

"And now...for the **_real _**show," she said and waved her hands

Suddenly the whole room was covered with colourful lights. It looked like Independence Day festivities.

"What the...!" said Shalimar. Jesse almost choked on his food and Emma and Josh just stared, with their mouths hanging.

"I thought Adam said she was a Telempath," said Brennan totally taken aback. "He didn't say anything about illusionist powers."

The room went dark as the light show continued.

"Let's get down to the vault," Brennan said "Josh you stay here."

"Hey! That's not fair," Josh said indignantly. "I want some action too."

"Not this time pal," Brennan said.

Josh sat back down in a huff as the others slipped out.

Down in the vault, Sharrona and one of her men walked in.

"Good evening Dr. Petrov. How can I help you?" said the guard on duty.

She was using her Psionic abilities, making the guard think that she was Petrov.

"I'm here to check on my valuables. If you would kindly let me in."

Shalimar was the first to reach the vault. She stood just outside the room, listening in on everything going on inside. The others came up behind her.

"How in the world did Sharrona get here?" asked Jesse.

"Hey Josh, what's going on up there?" Brennan spoke into his com-link.

"The light show is still going on," came the reply.

"How's that possible. She's down here," Emma said.

"I don't think she's the illusionist. It must be one of her men," said Brennan. "Shalimar, come with me. Can you two handle it here?" he said to Jesse and Emma.

"No problem," Jesse replied.

Meanwhile, inside the vault, the guard had opened the main vault door as well as Dr. Petrov's personal safe.

"I need your thumbprint here, before I can let you in," he said holding up an electronic datapad.

"I am in a hurry. Is this really necessary?" said Sharrona.

"I'm afraid so. It's required to record your presence in the vault. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"No problem," said Sharrona. 

While she was distracting the guard, her man, who was a Molecular Propulsive, used his super speed to get into the open vault door, use the duplicate key to open the safe and come out holding a box of some sort in his arms. 

"On second thought," said Sharrona. "I don't think the vault has anything of value for me anymore."

She hit the guard with a Psionic blast, sending him sprawling.

"Let's get out of here," she said.

"I don't think so," Jesse walked in followed by Emma. 

Brennan and Shalimar ran into the dining hall. The light show was still going on, but the stage was dark, so no one could see who was actually performing. Shalimar's eyes turned yellow. As she scanned the stage she saw a burly man waving his arms in the air. The other man was standing next to him, his eyes glowing red.

"The other guy's a Feral Canine," she said as they made their way up front.

The Feral on stage noticed them and whispered something to the illusionist. The light show abruptly stopped as the two of them went backstage.

"They're getting away," said Shalimar.

Just then the lights came on and an alarm sounded. The captain ran up to the stage followed by Dr. Petrov.

"What is going on captain?" he asked.

"The alarm gets triggered if the vault door is left open without a thumbprint being registered," the captain replied

"Someone is trying to steal my formula," said Dr. Petrov sounding flustered.

"C'mon, they went backstage," said Shalimar running up the stage and behind the curtains followed by Brennan and Josh.

The captain and Dr. Petrov stared at each other for a moment and then followed them. 

Sharrona sent a Psionic blast at Jesse, who massed and nullified the blast. The Molecular dropped the box and ran at Jesse too fast for him to react and speared him, slamming him into the wall.

"You fool, you could have damaged it," said Sharrona kneeling down to recover the box.

Emma sent a Psionic blast of her own at the molecular, knocking him out. Sharrona opened the box and pulled out a vial filled with a clear blue liquid.

"What's that?" asked Emma.

"This is what's going to make me the most powerful mutant on this planet," Sharrona said.

Before Emma could do anything, she drank the liquid in the vial. And then she closed her eyes and started shivering.

Shalimar caught up to the two men and knocked the illusionist down. The Canine took a wild swing at her and she ducked. She delivered a spinning kick, catching the man in the side of his head. The illusionist then released a light flash, blinding her for a second. The Canine got to his feet and gave her a solid punch in the jaw.

Brennan came from behind, turned the illusionist around gave him a hard uppercut. He fell down, unconscious. 

As the Canine sent his fist flying at Shalimar's face again, she ducked, grabbed his hand and flipped him over. She then knocked him out with a straight punch to the face.

"What's going on?" the captain asked.

"These guys and their companions are trying to steal something from the vault," Brennan said. "The other two are already down there."

"They are trying to steal my vials, my formula," said Petrov.

"What formula?" asked Shalimar.

Dr. Petrov would normally not have told anyone, but in his haste, he blurted everything out.

"It is a formula for enhancing new mutant abilities. It is like a steroid for new mutants."

"Well, Sharrona and her men are new mutants," said Josh.

"Guys, you better get down here, quick!" came Emma's voice over the com-link.

"She just drank some blue coloured liquid," Emma said into the com-link.

"Emma, that liquid is a power enhancer. You better get out of there," Brennan's voice came over the com-link.

Jesse struggled to his feet just as Sharrona stopped shaking. She opened her eyes. They were a pale greyish colour. Emma sent a Psionic blast at her, but she somehow managed to reverse it back at Emma, who got out of the way just in time. Sharrona then turned to Jesse and sent a huge blast at him. Jesse massed but still got knocked back by the impact.

Brennan entered and sent an arc of electricity at her. She moved her hands about creating some sort of protective shield. The arc bounced of it harmlessly.

Suddenly, she started convulsing. She collapsed to the floor and her body started shaking violently. And then it stopped. She lay still on the ground. Brennan walked up to her and felt her pulse. He looked up at the others.

"She's dead," he said.

Dr. Petrov walked in and picked up his box.

"What happened to her?" Shalimar asked him.

"The formula is only experimental. I was taking it to have it tested. It looks like it has a very serious side effect."

"Jesse, look out!" Emma shouted suddenly as the super speed guy rushed at him again. 

This time however, Jesse phased and the guy went right through him, crashing headfirst into the wall.

"Now we're even," said Jesse to the guy crumpled on the floor.

"I trust you will not speak of this to anyone," said Dr. Petrov.

"Don't worry," said Brennan. "Our lips are sealed. As long as you get rid of that formula."

"I will," Petrov said. "After seeing what it does, it is, how you say, back to the drawing board for me."

It was the next morning and Sharrona's men were restrained and locked up in the brig. 

Josh and Jesse were in the pool, Josh sitting on Jesse's shoulders. Shalimar and Emma were sitting by the edge with their feet in the water. Jesse phased and Josh fell through into the water. He came up spluttering. Jesse started laughing and promptly got a splash of water in the face. The two of them then turned to Emma and Shalimar and started splashing them.

Brennan was on the phone with Adam.

"Everything's under control Adam," said Brennan. "Yes, he destroyed all the vials. Alright we will. We'll see you in about a week." 

He hung up and kept the phone down and then turned to face the pool.

"Okay People! Our vacation has just begun," he said and dove into the pool. 

**END OF EPISODE 4**

Thanks for the reviews and sorry about the delay. I couldn't figure out how to end this one and as you can see the ending isn't all that great. The next episode shouldn't take so long.

I could use some suggestions for future episodes though.


	5. From Hell Part 1

****

**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

****

_Episode 5:__From Hell – Part 1_ Sanctuary

"Hurry up people, we don't want to be late," Adam said as he walked towards the helix.

"A whole week in London!" said Josh excitedly.

"Yup," Jesse agreed. "We're gonna have some fun."

Adam had been invited to an international genetics conference that was being held in London.

"This must be something big," Emma said to Adam as they entered the Double Helix. "You seem pretty excited about it."

"It's very big," Adam said, a big smile on his face. "The world's top scientists are going to be there and each one of them are going to share their experiences with DNA restructuring and genetic manipulation.

"Sounds fun," said Brennan, a touch of sarcasm in his voice, as he prepared for take off.

It had been a few hours since they had taken off. Brennan stifled a yawn, switched to autopilot and turned around. The others had fallen asleep, all except Adam who was going through some data on the screen in front of him. 

About three hours later, Brennan set the helix down on a landing pad in some field somewhere around the outskirts of London. There were couple of private jets parked nearby. As they exited the helix, a short slightly balding man in his early forties walked up to them.

"Dr. Kane, it's good to see you again," he said in a thick British accent, extending his hand forward.

"It's good to see you too," said Adam, shaking his hand. "This is Dr. Edward Atherton," he said as he introduced the rest of the team.

"This way," Atherton gestured with a sweep of his hand towards a limo waiting for them. "Let's get you checked into the hotel. It's not far from here and I am sure you must be tired from your flight."

The limo pulled into the driveway of the hotel Avion. The hotel, set up outside of London city, was overlooking a steep cliff. Brennan whistled softly as he took in the surroundings. The place was enormous. The hotel itself was a magnificent building, about thirty stories tall. The walls were a sparkling white. The carvings on the building made it look like it was taken straight out of the medieval times. A wide ledge surrounding the roof on top had stone gargoyles perched all around it. 

There was a huge lawn out front. In the centre of the lawn was a large fountain, a three-foot deep circular pit with a slightly elevated marble path surrounding it. A pillar made of white marble was in the middle of the pit. On top of the pillar were five marble fish set in a circle facing outwards with their mouths wide open and water pouring out. A high wall surrounded the complex. Around the entire perimeter there were trees and plants of all varieties. 

The inside of the hotel was even more so if not as breath-taking as the outside. The entire lobby floor was covered by black marble flooring. There was a lounge to the right with plush furniture and to the left was a bank of four elevators. Straight ahead was the receptionist's desk. 

"Boy, they sure went all out to accommodate us," said Jesse.

"Dr. Grant is the owner of Hotel Avion," said Atherton. "The entire hotel has been reserved for the invitees of the conference. Ah, here he comes now."

Walking towards them was a gentleman in his fifties wearing a dark blue suit and rimmed glasses perched up high on his nose.

Adam smiled.

"I was hoping you could make it Adam," said Dr. James Grant shaking his hand. 

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"The preliminary meeting will start in half an hour. Why don't you freshen up and I will see you in the conference room."

"All right."

Adam walked into the conference room. There were about twenty people in there. He sat down in a chair as Dr. Grant, who was sitting at the head, presiding over the meeting, started introducing everyone.

While Adam was at the conference, the others were sitting in one of the rooms. Josh was staring out the window overlooking the back of the hotel. There was big swimming pool in the shape of the figure eight in the centre and a couple of tennis courts at one corner. At the back was a gate, beyond which was a large golf course. He grinned. They were sure gonna have some fun.

"Let's go into town tomorrow," said Brennan. "We can explore London while Adam enjoys his boring conference.

The others agreed.

The next day the team went into town sans Adam who was at the conference. They visited Madame Tussaud's wax museum and a few other places and then had lunch at an exquisite looking Italian restaurant. 

After lunch, as they walked down one the many streets of London, Jesse spotted a newspaper vending machine and went over to buy a paper. He came back looking quizzically at the headlines.

"Hey, check this out." He pointed to the paper.

**'JACK THE RIPPER IS BACK'** was the bold print on the front page of the London Times.

"No kidding," said Brennan.

"Who's Jack the ripper?" Josh asked.

"Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who killed a bunch of people in London around 1888," Shalimar told him.

"Mutilated them is more like it. No one knows his real name though, 'cause he wasn't caught," said Brennan.

"But, if that was in 1888, how can this be him?" asked Josh.

"Good question."

"What does the paper say?" Emma asked trying to peer over Jesse's shoulder.

"It says...two people were found murdered near Leicester square. They were both practically ripped apart. Their throats were torn open.....like something...ate them." 

Jesse raised one eyebrow.

"Doesn't sound like a Jack the ripper style of murder," said Brennan.

"No it doesn't," Jesse replied.

Shalimar frowned. What was that sound she heard? Some kind of rattling. She tried listening for it again, but there was nothing.

Emma, looking at the picture of the mangled bodies in the paper, made a face.

"How could someone do something like that," she said, a disgusted look on her face.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream, startling all of them.

"It came from over here," said Shalimar heading for a narrow alley.

The others followed her into the alley. Right at the back of the alley, there were two kids, a boy and a girl, both about fourteen or fifteen years old, standing there. The boy, a tall, red haired kid was standing with his jaw wide open and the dark haired, pretty girl next to him, had her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide with shock. On the ground in front of them was a body lying motionless. They walked over to the body. It was man probably in his forties. The way he was dressed, he looked like a rag picker. His face was pale and he was bleeding from the neck. He was definitely dead. Brennan bent down to check his pulse anyway. When he found none, he looked at the two kids.

"What happened here?" he asked.

The boy, recovering from his shock, spoke up. "We don't know, we heard some scuffling in here and came to see what it was all about. We found him lying here."

"S-something went over the w-wall," the girl stammered.

"What was it?" Emma asked gently.

The boy shook his head. "We don't know. We didn't get a good look at it."

Jesse and Shalimar bent down to examine the body.

"I need the two of you to go find a phone and call the police," Brennan said to the two kids. He turned and looked at Josh. "And you go with them."

Josh started to protest, but took one look at Brennan's grim face and decided against it. He followed the other two as they ran out the alley.

The kids found a phone in the store nearby and made the call. The boy spoke on the phone, he seemed pretty calm as he told the officer on the other end of the line what had happened. After giving the address, he put the phone down and turned to Josh.

"I'm Johnny Matthews," he said. "And this is my friend Claire Grant." He offered a handshake.

Josh shook his hand. "I'm Josh Valentine."

"The bobbies ought to be getting here soon."

"I thought you called the cops," Josh said, puzzled. "Who's Bobby?

The girl giggled. "A bobby is what we call a policeman."

"Oh."

As they were leaving the shop, Josh stopped near the newspaper stand.

"Hey, look at this." 

He picked up a copy of 'The Sun' off the rack. The headline on the front page said,

**'IS DRACULA FOR REAL?'**

There was a picture of a young man in his mid twenties underneath the headline. The guy looked like all the blood had been completely drained from his body. His face looked slightly bluish and his lips were a pale blue. There were two round bloodied spots on his neck that looked like a vampire bite.

"Man! This is some weird stuff," said Josh. "Wait here for the police, I'd better show this to the others."

He dug into his pocket for some change, paid for the paper and hurried off.

Shalimar bent over the dead guy. He had slashes on his face and punctures on his neck from what looked like teeth marks. What ever had attacked him had pretty sharp teeth.

"He was poisoned," she said standing up. "Possibly snake venom."

"Are you sure?" asked Brennan.

"I'm positive. I can smell the dried up residue."

"You think a snake attacked him?" Jesse asked. "I don't think a snake could've done that."

"Me neither," said Shalimar. "I have no idea what did this."

Just then, the Josh came running into the alley.

"Guys, take a look at this," he waved a paper in the air.

The others took in what was on the paper.

"This can't be a coincidence," Jesse said.

"New mutants?" Emma asked.

"Probably," Jesse replied. 

"I can't see what else it could be," Brennan said matter-of-factly. "In any case, we'd better gat back to the hotel and show this to Adam."

There were sirens coming from behind. The police. 

After giving their statements to the police the team had left for the hotel.

They couldn't find Adam anywhere. He wasn't answering his com-link. They had searched practically the entire hotel. Their rooms, the conference room, even the golf course, but he was nowhere to be found. The hotel staff didn't know where he was either. They had come across some of the other scientists, but all they had said was that Adam had gone somewhere with Dr. Grant. They didn't know where. 

Brennan and Josh had just exited the elevator onto the lobby when they saw Dr. Grant hurrying past.

"Dr. Grant!" Brennan called out. 

The older man looked back without stopping and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have time to speak with you right now."

Brennan and Josh looked at each other for a second and then Brennan rushed after Dr. Grant.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Josh didn't go after him. He had noticed someone else. He walked across the lobby and stopped in front of a girl sitting on a couch.

"Claire?" he said.

The girl looked up.

"Hi Josh!" she smiled at him.

"What're you doing here?"

"My grandfather owns this place."

"Dr. Grant?"

Claire nodded in reply. "Are you staying here?" she asked.

"Yes. We're here for the conference. We're actually looking for someone. Maybe you can help us find him?"

"Sure."

He explained the whole situation to her.

Brennan hurried after Grant who disappeared around a corner. As Brennan rounded the corner, he noticed a door to the left swinging shut. It made a clicking sound as it closed. He walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Probably some kind of automatic locking mechanism, he thought. Just above the door handle, there was a slot for a card key. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and then sent a spark of electricity through the slot. He then pushed the door open and stepped inside. There was a long corridor to the left and Grant was nowhere to be found. He cursed under his breath. 

"Brennan!"

Brennan turned around to see Josh coming towards him along with the girl they had met in the alley earlier in the day.

"What's up?"

"This is Claire Grant," said Josh introducing the girl. "She's Dr. Grant's granddaughter. She thinks she knows where Adam might be."

"You sure?"

"I have an idea where he might be," said Claire.

"Guys," Brennan said into his com-link. "You'd better get down here, quick."

They walked down the corridor where Dr. Grant had disappeared. Claire was in front leading them. She suddenly stopped and tapped on a few tiles on the wall to her left. Then she placed her palm on one tile and pressed it. The tile went in a couple of inches and then slid down. There was a keypad inside. Claire typed a code on the keypad and a section of the wall to the right of the keypad went in a bit and opened up sliding in both ways like an elevator door.

"This lift will take us down to grandpa's laboratory. Come on,"

They stepped into the lift and the doors shut. A panel opened on the side. There was a retinal scanner in it. It scanned Claire's eye and cleared them. The elevator started moving down. There was another door at the back. A few seconds later it stopped and the back door opened up. As they stepped out into the lab, two guards came in from either side. They hesitated in their step a bit when they saw Claire, but then levelled their guns at the others. Dr. Grant and Adam were standing at one end looking up at a large screen. Grant turned around.

"Claire! What are you doing here?"

Then he noticed the others.

"It's okay," he said to the guards. "Let them in."

"Adam, we've been looking all over for you," Emma said. "We were worried when you weren't answering you're com-link."

"I'm sorry about that," Dr. Grant said. "There's a communications jammer set up in here. All communications from here can only be made from that console." He pointed to a station to the far end of the room.

"We've got a serious problem here," Adam said solemnly.

"Yeah, we know," Jesse said.

Dr. Grant walked over to a computer console and tapped a key. The big screen above him flicked on.

"The experiments that we were doing here involved grafting animal DNA over human DNA," he said. "We had three volunteers for the project."

As he spoke, a graphical view of DNA spliced over DNA was shown on the screen. That was followed by three-dimensional views of the faces of the three volunteers. Two men, both in their thirties, one with dark hair and the other a blond and a woman, also in her thirties with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

 "Mark Richards," he continued indicating the blond guy. "Craig Travis and Natasha James. The DNA grafting took place about two months ago. Unfortunately, it did not go the way I had intended it to. There was a big mistake in our calculations and this was the unexpected result."

The three faces on the screen morphed into horrific images. Dr. Grant tapped a few keys. The screen focused on the face to the left and zoomed out showing the entire body. The creature on screen had fur all over its body except the chest and upper abdomen, which were covered in scales; sharp teeth with two canines were sticking out of the mouth. It's eyes were yellow. The figure rotated on a vertical axis. There was a thin lizard-like tail sticking out from it's behind, curling up in circles.

"The animal DNA that was grafted onto these three people gave them the qualities of those animals," Grant said. "Mr. Richards here, has the power and ferocity of a Wolverine combined with the camouflaging capabilities of a Chameleon.

"A Chameleon?" Josh said. "That explains the weird looking tail."

He tapped another key. A second figure replaced the first. This one was clearly a female and her face looked pretty much human, though colour of the skin had turned dark. She had pale blue eyes, bat like ears and fangs like something out of a vampire movie. Her nails were shaped like deadly looking claws.

"Miss James has the abilities of a Vampire Bat and the strength of a Grizzly Bear."

Grant tapped a key again and screen switched to the third and probably the most gruesome looking figure of the three. The creature was covered in scales, with a long tail hanging down between its legs. The tip of the tail had a rattle.

"And finally, Mr. Travis, who has the combined DNA of a spitting Cobra and an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake."

"I think we came across this one's handiwork today. I thought I had heard something rattling." said Shalimar.

"I heard the rattling too," Claire spoke up.

"You were there?" Grant asked her.

 "Yes, Johnny and I found the body."

Dr. Grant gave his granddaughter a stern look.

"Claire, I forbid you to leave the hotel premises until this is over," he said.

"But..."

"No buts. These creatures are very dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt."

"All right," she sighed.

Dr. Grant turned to Adam.

"It was never meant to get out of hand this way. I don't know how we could have miscalculated to such an extent." He shook his head. "I didn't find out about them escaping until this morning and I have absolutely no idea how they could have done so without raising the alarms." 

"We can't worry about that now," said Adam. "We have to figure out a way to catch these things."

"I had taken the precaution of having Dr. Atherton implant tracking devices in them in case they did escape. However, the trackers don't seem to be working."

"Maybe I can help with that," said Jesse.

Atherton, who was standing to one side, gave a curt nod. "We would appreciate that," he said. "This way."

Jesse followed him as the others headed for the elevator.

"Shalimar, Brennan, Emma," Adam said. "I want the three of you to check out the crime scenes and see if you can pick up anything.

Brennan led the way down the narrow lane behind the nightclub. The Wolverine man had struck here. They had checked out the other two places and had found nothing. Shalimar's eyes turned yellow as she scanned the area.

Suddenly Emma stopped in her tracks. She sensed something. She couldn't tell what it was.

"What's wrong Emma?" Brennan asked.

"I don't know. I'm getting this feeling, like we're being watched.

Shalimar turned around abruptly sensing movement behind her. Her eyes went wide.

"Behind you!" she yelled.

Brennan whipped around to see a part of the wall leap towards him. Before he could do anything a big ball of grey fur smashed into him, knocking him down. Dazed, he looked up at his attacker and got a brief glimpse of the of a row of sharp, snarling teeth before a large clawed fist smashed into the side of his head knocking him out.

"Are you here on vacation?" Josh asked Claire.

They were sitting by the window in one of the rooms looking out over the golf course. It was dark outside and there weren't many light posts outside. The area outside was illuminated by the moonlight and it looked pretty spooky.

"No. I stay with my grandpa," Claire replied.

"What about your parents?"

Claire lowered her gaze to the floor.

"They died...in a car crash."

"Oh...I'm sorry. I know how you feel. I lost both my parents too."

They met each other's gaze for a second. Suddenly there was a sound outside. Claire turned to look out the window.

"That's one of them!" she said.

"What! Where?" Josh looked out the window.

"Come on," she said.

He turned around. Claire was headed out the door.

"Hey, where're you going?" 

He jumped up and ran out behind her. She was headed down the stairs. He ran after her.

"Wait." 

Claire walked out onto the back lawn of the hotel and towards the golf course. Josh came up running behind her.

"Adam told us to stay in the room," he said.

Claire turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you're afraid?" she said.

"Hey, I'm not afraid of anything," Josh said indignantly.

"Well then, come on."

They walked a few metres till they came to the spot where Claire had seen one of the creatures.

Josh looked around. There was a clump of trees behind him. He turned to face Claire.

"I don't see anything," he said.

Claire's eyes went wide with surprise. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She lifted her hand and pointed to something behind him. Josh turned around, but not quick enough. Something smashed into the side of his face. Claire screamed. Josh barely noticed a black figure over him before he blacked out.

As the wolverine man knocked Brennan down, Shalimar rushed over to help him. Just then another creature came down the wall hissing and it blocked her path. It was the snake man. He hissed at her, a thin, fork like tongue worming out of his mouth. Then he opened his mouth and spat venom at her. She moved away just in time and the venom splattered on the wall behind her.

As the wolverine moved towards Emma, she sent a psionic blast at him. The blast knocked him back, but didn't seem to have done any damage. He shook his head, trying to clear it and then moved towards her, baring his teeth and snarling.

"Dr. Grant." Atherton's voice came over Grant's com-link.

"Yes, Edward."

"You better come down here. We found something."

"We'll be there."

Dr. Grant and Adam made their way down to the laboratory. As they exited the elevator, Adam noticed a figure lying on the floor.

"Jesse!"

Before he could take another step something cracked against the back of his head and he crumpled to the floor. Dr. Grant looked at the attacker, his eyes wide with shock.

**_TO BE CONTINUED......._**

**END OF EPISODE 5 **

This is a two-part episode. Hope you like it. Please review.


	6. From Hell Part 2

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**Disclaimer:**** Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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_Episode 6:__From Hell – Part 2_

"What the hell are you doing!" Dr. Grant shouted out.

Adam was lying unconscious on the floor. Standing above him, holding a steel pipe in one hand was Dr. Atherton. 

"What I should have done a long time ago."

"But...why?"

"Why do you think!" Atherton pulled out a 9mm Beretta from his coat and pointed it at Grant.

As the snake man advanced towards her, Shalimar eyes turned yellow. She took a step back, braced herself and leaped. She jumped over the snake man, did a somersault in mid air and kicked the back of his head before landing behind him. The snake man stumbled forward and fell face first on the ground.

The wolverine, who was moving towards Emma, now turned his attention on Shalimar. Growling, he charged forward, baring his fangs. Shalimar stepped to one side and kicked him in the stomach. The kick didn't seem to faze him though and he sent a clawed fist straight at her throat. She ducked and countered with a punch of her own. They exchanged a few blows and then Shalimar spinned around, kicking him hard in the chest. As he fell backwards, he lashed out with his reptile-like tail and using it like a third arm, wrapped it around her leg and yanked. Shalimar fell flat on her back. Before she could get up, she found herself staring up at the snake man.

Emma hit the wolverine man with a very powerful psionic blast, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, making a big crack in it. The snake man standing over Shalimar opened his mouth and prepared to send a spray of poison at her. Before he could do so, an arc of electricity hit him, sending him reeling backwards. Brennan got up one knee and charged up an even bigger arc. It narrowly missed as the snake man jumped over the wall.

Shalimar got up off the ground, looking around for the wolverine. He had disappeared. 

"You okay?" She asked Brennan as Emma helped him up.

"You're bleeding," Emma said.

There was a gash on Brennan's face where the wolverine had hit him.

"I'll be fine."

"I'm tired of living in your shadow and I'm sick of doing what you tell me to do," Atherton said with contempt in his voice. "All these years I have wasted, working for you, when I could have been doing my own research, my own experiments."

"I have never forced you to...." Dr. Grant began to say.

"Shut up!" Atherton cut him off.

He dropped the steel pipe on the floor and walked over to one of the computer consoles. He tapped a key and the screen in front of them lit up.

"What are you doing?" Grant asked.

"I told you to shut up. And stay where you are."

A few more taps on the keyboard and the screen divided itself into three portions, each portion showing a live video feed. A look of confusion came over Grant's face. As he looked closer, he realized that the live feeds were coming from the escaped creatures. The confusion was replaced by a look of surprise.

"You're controlling them?"

"That's right. I'm controlling them." Atherton pulled out a device about the size of a palmtop. "With this modified datacard."

He flipped a switch on the device and tapped a few keys.

"Those tracking devices that you made me implant. They were actually high frequency control chips that I invented. I had them implanted near their cerebrums."

His lips curled up in an arrogant smirk.

"And by the way. There was no miscalculation in the DNA splicing process."

"That was your doing!" Grant said his eyes blazing. He took a couple of step forward and stopped when Atherton brought his gun up, pointing it at him.

"What do you want from me?" Grant asked.

"I want you to suffer. And what better way than to take something that you value the most away from you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have called in the creatures. One of them is bringing your granddaughter along." 

"You leave her out of this, you bastard!" Grant shouted taking another step forward.

"Stay back. Don't make me shoot you now. It would spoil all the fun. I'm going to let the creatures take care of you and your friends." Atherton nodded his head toward Adam and Jesse. "Make it look like you released your anomalies and they came back and turned on their creator."

Grant's eyes widened. 

"You can't do that," he said, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice.

Atherton laughed.

As his eyes flickered open, Josh thought he had gone blind. He couldn't see a thing.  He groped around. The wall behind him was rocky and so was the ground. He was in of a cave of some sort. He groaned as he sat up.

"Josh?" a nervous voice spoke up.

"Claire? Is that you?"

"Yes." 

"I can't see anything," Josh said.

"Neither can I."

Josh heaved a sigh of relief as he realized that the place was very dark and that he wasn't blind.

"You okay?" Josh asked.

"I think so. What about you?"

"I'm okay." 

Josh felt something wet on his cheek. He touched it and winced as he felt a stinging sensation. He tried to recollect what had happened. He remembered Claire having a shocked look on her face and then pointing to something. He remembered being smashed in the face and then catching a glimpse of a black skinned creature. He knew it was one of the escaped creatures, but which one? He tried to remember what he had seen in the lab. It definitely wasn't the snake man and the wolverine had greyish fur. It must have been the vampire woman. She must've dragged them into this cave. Was she still in here? The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

"Where's the creature," he asked.

"I don't know. She knocked me out too and she wasn't around when I woke up." 

Josh brought his hand up to speak into his com-link, but it wasn't there. 

'Great,' he thought to himself. 'It must've fallen off.' 

He got up and scrabbled around.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked him.

"Looking for...Ah found it." 

He picked up what felt like a stick about three feet long and as thick as his wrist. He then took of his T-shirt and tied tightly to one end of the stick. He held up the stick and sent a thermal charge at the portion covered by the shirt. As the shirt caught fire, the cave lit up.

"Wow! That's a neat trick," Claire said in surprise. 

Josh looked down at her. Her face looked eerie in the yellowish-orange glow. There was a dark bruise on her cheek. A concerned look came over her face as she noticed the cut on his cheek.

"You're hurt," she said getting up.

"I'm okay," Josh said. "But I don't wanna be around if that vampire woman comes back. We'd better get outta here."

"Right. Which way do we go," Claire asked.

Josh looked in both directions and then shrugged.

"This way, I guess."

"Are you sure that's the right way?" Claire asked.

"Only one way to find out," Josh replied quietly.

"Adam," Shalimar said into her com-link as they entered the hotel. "Adam, Jesse?" she repeated when she got no answer.

"They must be down in the lab," Emma said.

"Josh," Brennan said into his com-link. There was no reply. "Josh are you there?" He looked at Emma and Shalimar. "I told him to wait in the room till we get back."

"You two head down to the lab. I'll find him," Shalimar said and started walking towards the elevators.

As she was about to board one of them, the hotel manager came rushing towards her.

"Excuse me madam," he said trying to catch his breath. "Do you know where Dr. Grant is? His granddaughter is missing."

"What! When did you see her last?"

"Somebody heard screaming coming from the direction of the golf course a few hours ago. When we got there, we couldn't find anyone. One of the bellhops had seen Claire and a young boy heading in that direction a few minutes before."

'Josh must've been with her,' Shalimar thought as she hurried towards the golf course.

  
Jesse opened his eyes and took in his surroundings drowsily. There was big throbbing in his head. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was in Dr. Grant's lab. He tried to get up, but couldn't. He realised his hands and legs were tied up. Adam was lying next to him also tied up and unconscious. 

Straight ahead Grant and Atherton were standing facing each other. Atherton had his back towards Jesse and was pointing a gun at Grant. He phased and the ropes binding his hands and feet slipped down. 

Quietly, he got to his feet and tiptoed towards the two. Catching Grant's eye, he brought his finger to his lips. Atherton, noticing the movement of Grant's eyes, whirled around. When he saw Jesse, he squeezed the trigger. Jesse massed and the bullets bounced off him harmlessly. The gun clicked indicating that it was out of bullets. Enraged, Atherton threw the gun at Jesse who ducked. 

Suddenly, Jesse noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He phased just in time as a large ball of grey fur went through him. It screeched to a halt and turned around snarling.

Shalimar searched the portion of the golf course near a clump of trees where Josh and Claire had been earlier. Her eyes turned yellow as she scanned the ground. Noticing something, she bent down to pick it up. It was Josh's com-ring. 

There were tracks leading away from where she found the ring towards the trees. There was one set of clawed footprints and it looked like something had been dragged along behind it. She followed the tracks through the cluster of trees. The tree cover led stretched away from the hotel and outside the grounds. 

As she kept walking, a rocky formation started to appear to her left. It grew bigger as she walked forward. A few yards ahead was an opening about seven feet high in the rocky face. The tracks led into the opening. She cautiously walked into the opening, which opened out into a pretty large cave. 

She suddenly, stiffened as her feral senses picked up something coming from further inside the cave. It sounded like a girl screaming. Using her eyes like a torch, she moved into the dark in the direction of the sound.

Josh led the way holding his makeshift torch out in front of him. Clare followed behind him. The flames of the torch danced about creating eerie shadows on the walls of the cave. Up ahead was a slightly narrow passage about six feet high and half as wide. The passage was a little cramped but not very long. A couple of minutes later, Josh stepped out of the small passage, into a much larger place. He stopped in his tracks and Claire Who was right behind, bumped into him.

"What in the world?" Josh said astounded.

Ahead of him, the rocky floor of the cave gave way to pure concrete and the walls looked like they were made out of some kind of metal alloy. The area was lit up.    

He turned to face Claire who was standing next to him looking as stunned as he felt. "How...?" 

A loud, bloodcurdling screech cut him off. He turned back towards the concrete area to see a chilling sight. The vampire woman was coming towards them, fangs bared. Claire screamed.

"Get outta the way!" Josh yelled pushing Claire aside.

He thrust the torch at the vampire's face, but she dodged and swatted it out of his hand. She stepped forward and took a swipe at his head. Josh ducked and punched her in the ribs and then ducked again as she took another swipe at him. He punched her again, but his punches didn't seem to be affecting her in the least. 

She brought her hands up and what looked like retractable claws came out of her fingertips. Before he could react, she slashed him in the chest, sending him reeling backwards into the wall. She started moving towards him, but stopped and turned around, hissing angrily. Claire was poking at her with the torch. The vampire woman caught hold of the torch, ignoring the fire burning her hand. She pulled it from Claire's grasp and threw it back at her. Claire shrieked and just managed to get out of the way.

Josh yelled in pain as the vampire woman slashed him and grimaced when he back-pedalled into the wall. There was a long, inch deep scratch down his chest and his face felt like it was on fire. He watched in horror as the vampire threw the torch at Claire. He rushed forward, sending a thermal charge at her. As the thermal charge burned her in the back, the vampire turned around and started moving towards Josh. He backed up, sending short bursts of thermal energy at her, but she kept coming towards him, not showing any signs of pain. He tried to get away, but she was too quick. She leaped at him, caught hold of his arm and backhanded him in the face, sending him spinning in the air and landing on the ground, flat on his back.

Josh felt the wind getting knocked out of him as he hit the ground. His head swirled. The vampire woman straddled him and pinned both his arms, her claws digging painfully into his forearms. She slowly brought her face down, her sharp canines gleaming in the light, opening her mouth to bite into his neck.

The wolverine man charged at him. Jesse massed just before the creature smashed into him. The wolverine amazingly unaffected by the collision, swung at Jesse. His claws hit Jesse's still massed body and snapped. Jesse then smashed his fist into the wolverine's gut sending him flying across the lab. The creature crashed to the floor and rolled over seemingly out cold.

In all the confusion, Dr. Grant tried to wrestle the modified control device out of Atherton's hand. The younger man pushed him to the ground and picked up the steel pipe he had thrown down earlier.

"If you so much as flinch, I will crack your bloody skull," he threatened.

He turned back to watch the fight, an insane look coming over his face as he started tapping on the controller.

"Jesse!" Adam called out. He had regained consciousness.

"Adam. You okay?" Jesse asked. 

"Jesse watch out! Behind you!"

As Jesse turned around, something leaped on him bringing him crashing to the floor. He looked up into an ugly snake-like face. The hideous creature hissed and opened its mouth. A stream of venom sprayed out of its mouth directed straight at Jesse's eyes. Jesse managed to phase out just before the venom hit him. As the venom hit the floor, acidic smoke rose from it.

Suddenly, from behind, a huge arc of electricity hit the snake man sending him staggering forward. Jesse got up to see Brennan standing near the elevator door.

Emma stepped out from behind him and sent a psionic blast at Atherton knocking him of his feet. She went over and helped Dr. Grant to his feet.

The snake man got to his feet, shaking his head to clear it.

"Oh no. You're not gettin' away this time," Brennan said, charging up a tesla coil.

The wall on his left suddenly moved towards him. The wolverine shed his camouflage and leaped at Brennan.

Brennan ducked and rolled out of the way, in the process sending an arc at the wolverine and hitting him in midair. The wolverine fell to the ground, rolled and came back up to his feet. Behind him, the snake man got up and moved towards him hissing. Jesse moved in to block the snake's path.

"These things don't go down easily," he said to Brennan.

Brennan and Jesse were standing back to back as the two creatures moved towards them from opposite directions.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Brennan replied tightly.

Josh squirmed and struggled, but she was too strong. He shut his eyes tightly as she closed in to bite him. 

And then he heard a growl as something grabbed the vampire woman and threw her off him. He nervously opened one eye and released the breath he was holding when he saw Shalimar.

Shalimar turned to look at Josh. He looked hurt pretty bad. There were cuts all over his face and chest. She felt anger rising within her. Her feral senses flared up as the vampire recovered quickly and leaped at her, slashing at her face. Shalimar ducked, moved behind her and kicked her in the back, sending her face first into the wall. The vampire spun around, grabbed Shalimar by the shoulders and smashed her into the wall and then tried to bite her. 

Shalimar kneed her in the gut; head butted her, pushed her back and kicked her in the midsection. Then she leaped in the air, did a backward somersault and kicked her in the jaw. The vampire fell back, cracked her head on the wall and slumped down, unconscious.

Josh struggled to his feet. Claire helped him up.

"You saved my life," she said. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't worry about...Ow." Josh grimaced as he stood up.

"You poor baby," Shalimar said giving him a fierce hug.

"Ow!" Josh said again.

"Sorry," She winced. "You're hurt pretty bad." There was concern written all over her face.

"I'm okay...really..." Josh stopped mid-sentence and his eyes opened up.

Shalimar turned around. The vampire woman was up again, coming towards them.

Dr. Grant picked up the controller and typed something in it.

The wolverine charged at Brennan, who let loose an arc of electricity. It didn't hinder the wolverine's movement.

"Move!" Brennan said to Jesse.

The both of them got out of the way of the charging creature, who went past them and almost crashed into the snake man. Then the two creatures turned and started moving in their direction. Brennan and Jesse backed up against the wall. There was no room to get out of the way this time.

And then abruptly, the two creatures stopped dead in their tracks. Their bodies stiffened and they fell to the ground.

"Huh?" Jesse looked confused.

"What happened?" Brennan asked.

Dr. Grant strode across the lab towards them.

"They are dead," he said flatly. "I re-programmed the control chips in their brains to self destruct."

Emma untied Adam and helped him up.

"You guys all right?" he asked.

Brennan and Jesse both nodded.

"Looks like your _little_ problem is under control," he said to Grant.

"And I'm glad it is," Grant replied.

"What have you done! You destroyed them!" Atherton stormed over in rage, his eyes blazing. "You will pay..." He was cut off as Grant, who had had enough, laid a punch across Atherton's jaw, knocking him out.

"No...It's your turn to pay now," he said.

Shalimar stepped in front of Josh and Claire as the vampire woman headed for them. Suddenly, she stopped and fell. Shalimar raised her eyebrows in surprise. She walked over cautiously and bent down. The vampire's eyes were wide open, but she wasn't moving or breathing.

"She's dead," Shalimar said looking up at Josh's puzzled face.

"Hey guys," Claire spoke up. "I think this passage leads to one of the lab entrances."

"Wait," Shalimar said. "I'll go in first. You two stay behind me."

"This explains how they escaped," Josh said to Claire as they followed Shalimar into the concrete passage.

"I want to thank you for everything you have done...all of you," Dr. Grant said as he shook hands with everyone. 

"I'm glad we could help," Adam said with a smile.

They were on the landing field standing by the helix. Brennan and Jesse went inside to get it ready for take off. 

Claire walked up to Josh. There were a couple of bandages on his cheek, but his wounds were pretty much healed.

"You were really brave in there," she said. "I want to thank you again for saving my life."

"That's okay. I was just doing my jo..." he stopped as Claire kissed him gently on the lips.

When she stopped, he just stood there blinking in surprise, mouth slightly open.

Claire smiled at him. "I hope to see you again," she said before turning around to leave.

"Uh-uh, me too," Josh managed to mumble out. 

He turned around as she left. Shalimar and Emma were there, trying hard not to smile and not succeeding.

"Somebody's in luhv," Emma teased. 

"I am not!" Josh said indignantly and face turned red.

"Aw, he's blushing," Shalimar said, ruffling his hair.

"I'm not blushing," he said, embarrassed, and ran up the ramp into the helix.

Shalimar and Emma followed him, laughing.

**END OF EPISODE 6 **

Thanks a lot for all the reviews. I really appreciate them.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like whoever's reviewing to rate my episodes. Like which one is the best so far and second best and so on.


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